News

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The Big Move,  July 2008.

Mahesh has been appointed as the Chair of Indiana’s only state-supported Deaprtment of Architecture at Ball State University’s nationally ranked College of Architecture and Planning. He has also been promoted to Full Professor rank and holds the Irving Professorship in Architecture, an endowed position for 2008-9. Additionally, he has been appointed the inaugural Fellow of the Institute for Emerging Media at BSU.  Mahesh will take up the new role starting July 1, 2008. Ball State University (whose biggest benefactors have been the Ball brothers, glass manufacturers) is one of the three major state universities in Indiana. David Letterman is one of BSU’s famous alumna.

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Harvard University GSD’s Critical Digital conference, April 18-19.

Mahesh will be speaking in the plenary session on the topic “Deconstructing Materiality: Harderials, Softerials, Minderials, and the Transformation of Architecture.”

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Article in 210SA

Emily Messer’s article, “Lessons in Recycling, Protecting Earth,” ran in the news magazine “210SA” (week of Apr. 9-15) and features Mahesh’s current design studio “An Inconvenient Studio.” The on-line version is here:

http://www.210sa.com/content/view/4098

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Asia Times interview

An article by Indrajit Basu about foreign direct investment in education sector in India and its implications for Western universities expressing interest in setting up campuses and entering into joint ventures with Indian universities. Asia Times, March 29, 2008.

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Architectural Education and Globalization

Mahesh Chairs a paper session “Architectural Curricula for the Flat World” at the 96th ACSA Annual Meeting in Houston on March 28. Here is a link to the digital proceedings in which you may find the papers featured in this session. The following papers were presented in the session:

• Architectural Education for Global Markets: An Argument for Reflection and Empathy
  Kevin Mitchell, American University of Sharjah
• Architecture Pedagogy in the Age of Globalization
  Amir H. Ameri, University of Colorado
• Traveling Professions: How Local Contingencies Complicate Globalizing Tendencies in the Standardization of Architectural Practice
  George B. Johnston, Georgia Institute of Technology

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IAA Outstanding Achievement Award

The “Advanced Fabrics Exhibition Structure” project that Mahesh designed and built with student involvement in 2005 has been awarded the International Outstanding Achievement Award at the IFAI 2007 Convention held in Las Vegas. More about this here: http://ifai.com/Lightweight/07iaa-2223.cfm

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President’s Distinguished Achievement Award

On May 3, The 2007 President’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Creative Production has been awarded to me at the UTSA Faculty Honors Convocation. UTSA has 964 faculty members and 28000 students. Here is a link to the story: http://www.utsa.edu/today/2007/05/senagala.cfm

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Plenary Lecture: “Global Competitive Edge through Strategic Academic Partnerships and Research.”

Invited lecture, Professional Awning Manufacturers Association workshop and Southwest Industrial Fabrics Association Convention, San Antonio, TX, April 13, 2007

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Great Cities of the World Panel Discussion

Inited Panelist, Great Cities Symposium, UTSA College of Public Policy, March 29, 2007

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AIA BEST PRACTICE

UTenSails design-develop-build project (shown in the Flickr album below) has been identified as a Best Practice by AIA. It will be included in the Best Practices library.

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Technology Integration in Smart Architecture

Invited lecture, Department of Computer Science, UT Arlington, February 09, 2007

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Opening Banquet Keynote Lecture

Association of Scientists of Indian Origin in America Conference, Denton, TX, January 13, 2007

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UTenSAils: Design Develop Build Studio Article.

Texas Architect January/February issue features this article about UTenSAils design-build studio. January 2007.

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